(May 19, 2026) The domestic silica industry has entered a phased adjustment cycle, the demand in the field of traditional rubber tires is stable and weak, the demand for new energy, high-end daily chemicals, photovoltaic materials and other emerging tracks continues to increase, superimposed on the tightening of environmental protection policies, and the recovery of export orders.
In terms of market prices, as of May 19, 2026, the market quotation of silica for mainstream rubber-grade precipitation method in China has stabilized at 5,800-6,500 yuan/ton, while the prices in East China and Shandong production areas have remained high, and the prices in the main production areas of Fujian have been slightly lower due to the concentration of production capacity. Due to high technical barriers and accelerated import substitution, the price of high-end silica in the gas phase method remained strong, and the mainstream quotation of 200 specific surface area specifications was 15,000-28,000 yuan / ton, showing a general product price pressure and a significant differentiation trend of high-end special product premiums.
The demand-side pattern has ushered in a major change. For a long time, tire and rubber reinforcement have been the largest application scenarios of silica, affected by the slowdown in the traditional fuel vehicle market, the increase in orders for ordinary rubber-grade silica is limited, the overcapacity of low-end products, and the intensification of market involution. At the same time, the rapid rise of emerging fields such as green tires for new energy vehicles, lithium battery sealing materials, photovoltaic adhesives, agricultural silicone additives, and high-end daily chemicals has driven the demand for highly dispersed, nanoscale, and hydrophobic special silica to increase by more than 20% year-on-year, becoming the core growth engine of the industry and effectively hedging the growth bottleneck of traditional tracks.
On the supply side, the industry's green and low-carbon transformation has been comprehensively accelerated. Driven by the dual carbon policy and the EU carbon tariff policy, biomass silica and low-energy precipitation silica have become the mainstream of capacity construction. Domestic leading enterprises have accelerated the layout of low-carbon production capacity, reducing biomass silica carbon emissions by more than 65% compared with traditional processes, enjoying carbon asset benefits, and avoiding overseas carbon tariff barriers, greatly improving export competitiveness. In addition, environmental protection policies continue to tighten, small and medium-sized backward production capacity is accelerated to clear, industry concentration is further improved, and leading enterprises seize market share by virtue of technology, production capacity and channel advantages.
The foreign trade market has performed well and has become a new growth point in the industry. Recently, the recovery of overseas new energy industries, the popularization of green tires, the strong demand for silica imports in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and the continuous increase in domestic high-dispersion, food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade silica export orders, the industry's export volume increased by 12% month-on-month in early May, and the domestic high-end silica gradually broke the monopoly of overseas brands, and the global market voice continued to increase.
Industry analysts said that in the short term, the domestic silica market will continue to operate weakly and steadily, and the price fluctuation of general products is limited; In the medium and long term, with the continuous expansion of downstream emerging applications, the deepening of domestic substitution of high-end products, and the implementation of green production capacity, the industry will shift from scale expansion to high-quality development.
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